Friday April 26th Local Sports

NASHVILLE — Iowa tight ends T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant were both taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. Hockenson was selected by the Detroit Lions with the eighth pick after winning the Mackey Award as a redshirt sophomore.

Fant set Iowa’s career record for touchdown receptions by a tight end and was taken by the Denver Broncos with the 20th pick.

It’s the first time that a school has had two tight ends selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, and it’s the first time since 1992 that two tight ends have been selected in the first round.

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have selected North Carolina State center Garrett Bradbury with the 18th overall pick in the NFL draft, using their first-rounder on an offensive lineman for the first time in seven years. With the front five again their position of greatest need, the Vikings could hardly have had the board fall to them any better. The 6-foot-3, 306-pound Bradbury was the third offensive lineman taken.

MASON CITY – Due to the threat of inclement weather on Saturday, the NIACC baseball and softball teams will now play Iowa Community College Athletic Conference doubleheaders today.

The NIACC baseball team will play its four-game series with Iowa Central on Friday and Sunday at Roosevelt Field. The twinbill on Friday starts at 4 p.m. and the Sunday doubleheader will start at 1 p.m.

The NIACC softball team faces Southwestern on Friday in a doubleheader and also hosts DMACC on Sunday.

Friday’s softball games begin at 3 p.m. and the Sunday doubleheader starts at noon.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The most popular player on the Minnesota Twins is the third-string catcher, Willians Astudillo. The versatile everyman’s all-in, all-out style has endeared him to players and fans alike since he made his major league debut last season. Astudillo’s cult hero status will hit a new high on Friday, when the Twins take on the Orioles. T-shirts bearing his nickname “La Tortuga,” which means the turtle in Spanish, will be given out to 3,000 fans who pre-purchased a special ticket package.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell says he’s focused on “trying to become a better person” since being suspended for 40 games for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. Russell was suspended last fall after a series of allegations made by his ex-wife. He says he’s done “a lot of self-reflecting and a lot of self-growth.” He starts a minor league assignment at Triple-A Iowa today.

DES MOINES — At the Drake Relays on Thursday, Garner-Hayfield-Ventura’s Reece Smith finished second in the 3200 meter run. Smith’s time of 9:15.88 was just over a second off of the winner Tim Sindt of Ankeny, who won with a time of 9:14.64. Most of the high school events involving area athletes will take place today and tomorrow on the blue oval at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.